We don't see teachers protesting bilingual education. Could it be because they are trained in the science and psychology of second language acquisition? They know what research says about how to transition children from one language to another, and it doesn't occur by dumping children into an English only classroom. Research shows that children acquire a conversational level of a second language in 2-5 years. So sure, we can dump them in an English only classroom with no primary language support (instruction in their native language), and they will begin to speak English with some facility in 2-5 years. However, they are now 2-5 years behind in the curriculum that they have sat through and not comprehended since the instruction was delivered to them in words they didn't understand. Sure, that is a great way to educate children, wouldn't you say? Speak gibberish to them for years and then gasp because those kids are behind in their education. Well, it must be because they come from an inferior country, right? Because they are (fill in the blank with whatever ethnicity you discriminate against), right? No! It's because so many of our schools do such a shitty job of meeting those children's needs. Hell, so many of our schools do a shitty job of meeting the English speaking children's needs.
And why is that?
In my opinion, because we have politicians and loud-mouthed parents who interfere with the running of our schools.
Let me ask you this. When you go to see a doctor, do you tell him what your diagnosis is or do you leave him to do his job? If you have ever had the misfortune of needing the services of a lawyer, did you tell him how to organize your defense, or did you leave it to him? If you have ever hired someone to do some work around your house, did you tell them how many feet apart to set wall studs, what type of insulation needed to be used around the new circuit box, or how much rebar to use to strengthen a concrete slab? No, I doubt if you did. You left these people to do their jobs because they were professionals and had training/expertise that you did not.
Yet, so many people seem to think that they have a better way to teach kids, that they know more about educating children then the educators do, and so, we have parents arguing with teachers about how to run their classrooms. We have politicians producing mandates for schools in terms of curriculum, amounts of time to be spent per day per subject, etc. without having any training in education. It's the ignorant making demands and interfering with things they have no expertise in.
They have opinions, of course, but no expertise. The problem with that, though, is that opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one, and they all stink.
Opinions on anything and everything. I had a professor once tell me that everyone looks intelligent on the outside. It's when they open their mouths that their ignorance becomes evident.
Not everyone needs to open their mouths; some people just need to write on a sign. Take a look at these Einsteins.
Perhaps he meant to write Respect Our Country: Speak English
Apparently, he is only concerned with the speaking of English, not so much the proper use of punctuation or homophones.
This particular protester does, indeed, make an interesting point. For some people, English is their only lanaguage (sic), but that is not a good thing.
Here is an illustrative joke:
What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Answer: Bilingual
What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Answer: Trilingual
What do you call someone who speaks one language? Answer: An American.
And by the way, family-who-uses-shoe-polish-to-make-political-statements-on-your-SUV, before you start demanding that other people learn to use English, it seems to me that you should make certain that you can use it correctly yourself.
This is, perhaps, my favorite of the bunch.Get a brain! Morans
Get a brain, indeed.
Alas, these are the vocal ones, the ones we see on the news and in the newspaper, the ones who are energized by the nonsense spouted by rabble rousing talk show hosts. They are out there with their signs, lashing out at anything that is not familiar to them, anyone that doesn't look or think like them, anything that is different from what they know and have experienced in the past.
They cry "Socialism!" without having the faintest idea of what socialism actually is, without even being able to tell you which countries have been socialist in the past, which countries have elements of socialism right now. How do I know this to be true? Allow me to redirect your attention back to the pictures above. Do you really think those people can provide an informed and/or intelligent response to these questions?
Now, I focused primarily on the impact the unwashed masses have on education, because that is the arena in which I have the greatest knowledge, but the ignorant interfere in many many things. Who do you think leads the attacks on homosexuals and homosexuals' rights? Who voted and campaigned for California's Proposition 8? Who thinks that it makes sense to allow millions of people to not have health care coverage or be dropped by their insurance provider because they are using/need that very coverage? Who protests because a slick television loud mouth tells them to, despite the fact that they don't have a grasp on the issues at hand?
I wish I could say that I do not discriminate, but I do. I don't like dumb people. I don't like uninformed people. I don't like people who feel they have a right to judge others as unworthy, or inferior, or not deserving of respect. I don't argue with them, though. What is the point? As Stephen Colbert said to/about George W. Bush, these people operate from their gut, not from facts. If facts do not support their opinion, then the facts are disregarded, and they then justify their ignorance by saying that they just know they are right.
And so, we get protesters defending their right to discriminate, like the folks above. We get interference and legislation written by people who have no knowledge or expertise in the area they are writing laws to govern, and as a result, we get classes of people who's rights are stepped on by the self-righteous and small-minded.
What is the cure for this? I wish I could say. I wish there was an easy solution for getting people to start understanding issues, to start understanding the cultures around us, to start recognizing that they do not exist in a bubble but rather in a dynamic and diversified society. If only there were someplace where all of these ideas could be communicated.
Oh wait.
There is such a place! It's called a school. Now, if only the rabble would leave the schools alone and allow the educators to do their jobs, perhaps, finally, we could start getting kids to "get" a brain so they don't become the next crop of "morans".
It can happen.
(As an aside, before anyone decides to ask for my credentials: I hold two B.A. degrees, an M.A. degree, and am halfway to a Ph.D. So I do have some education under my belt.)
